The shrine of the Stone Lions: Twin effigies of
mountain lions in a walled enclosure.

Principal Ruins of the National Monument

STONE LIONS. Other noteworthy remains of the monument
area lie outside Frijoles Canyon, accessible only by foot or horse
trail across the mesas to the south. Perhaps the most frequently visited
of these antiquities is the shrine of the Stone Lions, 10 miles from
monument headquarters. Here on the mesa-top near an extensive ruin are
two life-size crouching mountain lion effigies carved side by side out
of the soft bedrock. This work of sculpture must have been accomplished
many centuries ago, for long weathering and erosion have left small
semblance of a true likeness. The shrine here is known to modern
Indians, being visited occasionally by hunters who leave prayer
offerings for success in their hunt. A second pair of stone lions was
carved on a mesa-top several miles to the south, outside the monument
boundary. These two pairs of life-size stone effigies are unique in the
Southwest.